[ToadFish]

The veggie sausage thread got me thinking...

My wife has some food intolerances - namely gluten and sugars (except for fructose and lactose). We mostly avoid processed or pre-packaged food as a rule since it's virually all got sugar in it, but a recent trip to the UK made us aware that some countries at least are moving in a direction whereby tasty goodies might not need to be done from scratch anymore.

Here's our questions to anyone who is similarly food-challenged or keeps an eye out for this kind of thing:

What is the quality of food labelling in NZ like? Are allergen groups referenced (e.g. 'this contains gluten')?

What's the availability of gluten- and sugar-free foods generally? If it's around, can you pick it up in supermarkets as well as health food shops?

Fingers crossed the response is positive so we can fill the container with something other than her food...

[Moorf]

You could try searching on Woolworths' online shopping site:-

https://www.woolworths.co.nz/homeshopping/default.asp

:hopeso

[veronica]

I have noticed here in Christchurch some gluten free stuff about in the bread line but the sugar free stuff is very limited. This is just talking supermarkets here, I haven't been in any health food or speciality shops. Auckland being bigger may have more variety.

[ruthyroo]

The bigger, 'nicer' supermarkets seem to have a couple of shelves of foods tending to the gluten free type, but as other posters have said, everything processed in NZ contains a lot of sugar, and sugar free doesn't seem to have caught on here yet (as a re-dedicated low carber I have looked!). Woolworths, maybe Countdown are your best bet - the bigger the better, but I don't think Pak n Save would be up to the challenge!

Health food shops are around, but they are very expensive - though I guess that's the case everywhere.

Good luck

[Radders]

I don't know if there is such a thing, but getting in contact with a nz diabetes association may help with finding out what you can get sugar free.